Draft:Matthew Jigalin

Jigalin was born on January 25, 1998, in Sydney, Australia, and grew up speaking Russian as his first language. His grandparents were immigrants from Harbin, a city with historical Russian and Chinese influence, who fled communist Russia during World War II.{{Cite web |last=Jigalin |first=Matthew |date=2023-04-24 |title=Who is Matthew Jigalin? |url=https://medium.com/@mattjigs_93496/who-is-matthew-jigalin-55a0059eeaa9 |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=Medium |language=en}}

He attended Arden Anglican School in Epping, Sydney, where he developed an interest in technology and multimedia during his high school years. While studying Software Design and Development (SDD) and Industrial Technology: Multimedia (ITM), Jigalin was an early adopter of the Oculus 'DK2 - Development Kit' Virtual Reality headset.

At the age of 17, Jigalin created a virtual reality game as part of his final year major work. This project went on to earn him first place in New South Wales for Industrial Technology which was featured in the Shape 2015 exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and later featured on the ABC television show Good Game.

During his high school years, Jigalin actively competed in professional volleyball, where he gained recognition for his academic achievements and athletic abilities.{{Cite news |last=Nicastri |first=Danielle |date={{date|2015|05|25}} |title=Australia Institute of Sport Arena, Canberra study room for HSC student UTS volleyball player Matthew Jigalin |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/the-hills/sport/australia-institute-of-sport-arena-canberra-study-room-for-hsc-student-uts-volleyball-player-matthew-jigalin/news-story/3bd8b00bbe117fecaeef5caa0df6b45e |work=The Daily Telegraph}} He was selected to join the UTS Volleyball Club whilst still attending high school.{{Cite news |last=Westbrook |first=Tom |date={{date|2014|04|07}} |title=Matthew Jigalin selected for New South Wales |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/the-hills/matthew-jigalin-selected-for-new-south-wales/news-story/a1a4c50fdf90e5809511d63a304c6e36 |work=The Daily Telegraph}} His performance at the club level led to his selection for the New South Wales volleyball team, where he competed at a National level.

File:Matthew Jigalin - Trinsic Optics.webp

Matthew Jigalin began skiing in 2018 and has since participated in various skiing-related activities and training. In 2020, he relocated to Whistler, British Columbia, for the winter season to complete the Canadian Ski Instructors' Alliance (CSIA) Instructor training program - and became accredited in both Level 1 and Level 2 instructor certifications.

In 2023, Jigalin returned to Vancouver to co-found a local production company 'Prickly' which focuses on adventure & snow sports related video content. Since then, Jigalin returns to Vancouver regularly to collaborate with local snow sports athletes and organisations.

In 2016, Matthew Jigalin{{Cite web |title=MJ |url=https://www.jigalin.com/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=MJ |language=en-AU}} met Leo Faber, a producer at Red bull Australia, and was introduced to Australian artist Shaun Gladwell. Faber informed them about a commission for the Sundance Film Festival, where the organisers were interested in a virtual reality project from Gladwell. Jigalin played a role in the creation of "Orbital Vanitas," a virtual reality experience created as a commentary on the inevitability of death. He served as the animator and developer of the project, collaborating with Gladwell and Faber.

The experience allowed users to explore a surreal and abstract world filled with floating objects and eerie sounds, with the ultimate goal of coming to terms with one's own mortality. The project received positive reviews from critics, with The New York Times{{Cite news |date=2017-01-25 |title=Opinion {{!}} Orbital Vanitas (Published 2017) |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/opinion/orbital-vanitas.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230412080557/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/opinion/orbital-vanitas.html |archive-date=2023-04-12 |access-date=2024-12-23 |language=en |last1=Gladwell |first1=Shaun }} featuring an opinion piece on it in January 2017. It won awards at the Sundance Film Festival in the emerging technology sector and was featured in other global film festivals such as Festival de Cannes, Cleveland International, Melbourne International, and the Sydney Film Festival. It was also showcased on Chris Milks' now deprecated [https://with.in/ With.in] platform{{Cite web |last=Robertson |first=Adi |date=2017-01-21 |title=Orbiting Earth in a virtual reality skull is a great way to remember you're going to die |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/21/14341754/orbital-vanitas-virtual-reality-skull-art-sundance-2017 |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=The Verge |language=en}} and received extensive media coverage.{{Cite web |last=Bunbury |first=Stephanie |date=2017-12-13 |title=Shaun Gladwell at NGA's Hyper Real: a VR journey into the human skull |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/shaun-gladwell-at-ngas-hyper-real-a-vr-journey-into-the-human-skull-20171211-h02kif.html |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}

File:Electronic Monuments - 2019 MCA installation label.jpg

In 2019, Jigalin and Shaun Gladwell collaborated again on "Electronic Monuments," a virtual reality work commissioned for an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Jigalin's role in the project was as VR Designer/Engine Artist.{{Cite web |title=Shaun Gladwell {{!}} Exhibitions {{!}} MCA Australia {{!}} MCA Australia |url=https://www.mca.com.au/exhibitions/shaun-gladwell-pacific-undertow/electronic-monuments-2019/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=www.mca.com.au |language=en}}

In 2021, Jigalin collaborated with the Museum of Contemporary Art on a project to recreate the museum in Minecraft. The project used 3D scanning to build an interactive virtual world where visitors could explore the museum and interact with others.

File:Gladwell-ferris-jigalin-NGV2019.jpg, Greg Ferris & Matthew Jigalin posing at the National Gallery Victoria for the opening of "Passing Electrical Storms']]In 2023, Jigalin worked on 'Passing Electrical Storms' - a 'Virtual Reality Death Simulator' which was later awarded a good design award for 'Digital Interface Design'.{{Cite web |title=Passing Electrical Storms |url=https://good-design.org/projects/passing-electrical-storms/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=Good Design |language=en-AU}} Jigalin was cited as the 'Lead Designer & Programmer of VR Experience' alongside Melbourne research institute Deakin Motion Lab and Shaun Gladwell.{{Cite web |last=Awards |first=Victorian Premier's Design |date=2023-12-12 |title=Passing Electrical Storm |url=https://premiersdesignawards.vic.gov.au/entries/2023/digital-design/passing-electrical-storm |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=premiersdesignawards.vic.gov.au |language=en}}

Jigalin is the founder and current creative director of CactusCan. Established in 2016, the company began as a means to support Jigalin’s interest in emerging technologies and creative ventures.

Since 2016, CactusCan Media has grown to work with Australian businesses such as Lendlease, Telstra, Westpac, Macquarie Technology{{Cite AV media |url=https://vimeo.com/882480311 |title=Macquarie Technology {{!}} "The Founders" |date=2023-11-08 |last=Media |first=CactusCan |access-date=2024-12-23 |via=Vimeo}} and the Australian Defence Force.{{Cite web |title=Top Video Production Companies Sydney - CactusCan Media |url=https://www.cactuscan.com/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=CactusCan Media - Video Production Company Sydney |language=en-AU}} Jigalin remains actively involved in the company’s operations,{{Cite web |title=About 1 |url=https://matthew-jigalin.squarespace.com/about |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=MJ |language=en-AU}} overseeing creative direction, client relations, and the development of client projects.

In 2020, Matthew began working with biomedical engineer Jordan Nguyen of Psykinetic.

In 2019, Matthew Jigalin co-founded the technology startup "Bartini" alongside Julian Cesaro and Insub Lim while continuing his role as Creative Director at CactusCan Media. Bartini was designed as an AI-powered cocktail-making assistant, enabling users to input available ingredients and taste preferences to generate cocktail suggestions based on their existing supplies.

The Bartini project was later sidelined as the co-founders pursued separate career paths. Lim relocated to Germany to work as a technology consultant, Cesaro became a software engineer at Canva, and Jigalin continued his role at CactusCan Media.

The Bartini project was subsequently open-sourced on GitHub.{{Citation |title=bartiniAU/bartini.app-home |date=2023-03-08 |url=https://github.com/bartiniAU/bartini.app-home |access-date=2024-12-23 |publisher=Bartini}}

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